In his prime, Nasir Hussain made extra-ordinary hits out of ordinary films and shining stars out of mediocre actors. A ‘NH’ film was a guaranteed entertainer, nothing more, nothing less. He had his commercial equations and his quota of stock situations, which he used in different permutations and combinations but almost always with great success.

So if you see his film, then you were sure to see the poor hero impersonating as some rich person to impress his lady-love (Tariq in Hum Kisise Kam Nahin and Vijay Arora in Yaadon Ki Baraat ). You were mostly going to see a heroine going bonkers after consuming liquor (Asha Parekh in Caravan and Kajal Kiran in Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin). Then again, you were most likely to come across a song that rekindled old memories and reunited long-lost soul-mates as did the Yaadon Ki Baraat title song and Kya Hua Tera Vaada in Hum Kisise Kam Nahin.

Here’s a look at three typical NH- films.

In Caravan, a rich heiress (Asha Parekh) discovers on her wedding night that she has unwittingly married her father’s murderer. On the run, she lands up in a truck accompanying a caravan of gypsies, pretends to be a village belle and falls in love with truck driver (Jeetendra). Finally truth comes out and good triumphs over bad. It’s a non-stop song-and-dance drama.

Yaadon Ki Baraat is a typical potboiler where parents get murdered, children get lost and then come back together as adults to take revenge. Dharmendra, Tariq and Vijay Arora as three brothers, Ajit as stylised villain –(wearing a No.8 shoe in one foot and No.9 in other!) and Zeenat Aman as Vijay Arora’s love interest play their parts well. It’s a Salim-Javed story before they found Amitabh to carry their plots and one can see an attempt at creating the ‘Angry Young Man’ in Dharmendra’s character here. But garam Dharam plays it too straight to make lasting impact!

Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin tells a tale of two guys wooing same girl (Kajal Kiran), one looking for his childhood sweetheart (Tariq) and other for his family’s stolen jewels (Rishi Kapoor). Rest of the plot is too damn complex to describe and too implausible to believe, but the cast does well to keep your attention glued to screen.

This Movie Mogul had an ear for music, an eye for choreography and a penchant for lavish song-settings. That’s why Caravan’s Piya Tu Ab To Aa Jaa, Yaadon Ki Baarat’s Chura Liya Hai and the 20 minutes-long dance song medley from Hum Kisise Kam Nahin became landmarks in their own right.